Munster Club SHC S-Final – De La Salle v Sarsfields

De La Salle (Waterford) defeated Sarsfields (Cork) by 0-22 to 2-15 after extra time in the AIB Munster GAA Hurling Senior Club Championship Semi-Final on Sunday at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.

Gutsy De La Salle go the extra mile

Sarsfields (Cork) 2-15 De La Salle (Waterford) 0-22 (aet)

By Michael Moynihan for the Irish Examiner newspaper

Monday, November 15, 2010

DE LA SALLE by a point.

The Waterford champions saw off their Cork counterparts Sarsfields by the minimum in extra time at Páirc Uí Chaoimh yesterday in the Munster club SHC semi-final in a game that had a little bit of everything – controversy, goals, equalising heroics – but never really sizzled. It was an exciting finish given the game’s beginning: on 12 minutes it was two points to one in favour of De La Salle. Goalkeeper and Sars captain Alan Kennedy had made the first of several fine one-on-one saves to deny De La Salle a goal when his side got their first green flag on 15 minutes: Daniel Roche dropped a long shot into the De La Salle square and when the ball broke loose Cian McCarthy was onto it quickly, his fine ground stroke sending the ball clean through the net for a goal.

On the puck-out John Mullane hit a 25-metre free off the post and Sars swept downfield, won a 65 pointed by Cian McCarthy, and Daniel Kearney added a point – 1-4 to 0-3. De La Salle responded with Daniels, Páidí Nevin and Bryan Phelan points before Sars stuck again for goal. With two minutes to the break, Michael Cussen dished out a quick pass to Kieran Murphy near the De La Salle goal and the Cork captain finished to the net from a tight angle. Some Waterford observers, including De La Salle keeper Stevie Brenner, felt Cussen’s pass was illegal, and the custodian saw yellow for his protests. Kennedy had to pull off a fine save late in the half from John Keane to preserve Sars’ advantage, 2-5 to 0-6 at the break.

De La Salle rallied after half-time, cutting Sars’ lead to two within six minutes thanks to Mullane (two frees) and an inspirational Eddie Barrett point from halfway, but Mullane missed a scoreable free on 38 minutes that would have left a point in it. From the puckout Cian McCarthy’s free made it a three-point game again, and Gavin O’Loughlin and Tadhg Óg Murphy quickly chipped in with two points of their own to put five between them. Game over? Not quite. Phelan (free) and Nevin points signalled De La Salle’s defiance, but they again missed some scoreable chances, and with the game running down to a close Sars still had two points to spare. De La Salle won a 65 on 56 minutes which Phelan put wide but referee Seamus Roche deemed a Sars player to have jogged across Phelan in an effort to distract him, and moved the 65 closer. Phelan converted the chance the second time but with time pushing into the 62nd minute, it still looked black for De La Salle, a point adrift. Enter man-of-the-match Kevin Moran with a magnificent equaliser from eighty yards. “The score of a lifetime,” his manager, Michael Ryan, called it afterwards: extra time.

The teams exchanged points in the first portion of extra time – Sars through Daniel Kearney (two) and Tadhg Óg Murphy, and De La Salle through Mullane, Dean Twomey and an inspirational Moran effort: 2-14 to 0-20 at half-time in extra time. Just as it looked like there was no separating them, however, De La Salle got ahead: Mullane and McCarthy swapped frees before promising teenager Jake Dillon wrote himself into the history books with the winner. At the final whistle, Sars’ manager John Crowley was devastated

He said: “I’m disappointed for the lads, they put in a huge effort but look, that’s just the way it is. We got two good goals, we were trying to hit the jugular, but a few decisions went against us at crucial stages . . . it’s just very disappointing.” The decision to move in Bryan Phelan’s 65 late in normal time? “He (referee Seamus Roche) said it was for jogging across,” said Crowley. “I thought there were some harsh decisions but sometimes they go for you, sometimes they don’t.”

His De La Salle counterpart was jubilant. “Semi-finals are all about winning,” said Michael Ryan. “Waterford teams have often played in really good games and come out on the wrong side. All we were interested in was winning, and coming down to win was a real test. To give Sars a five-point lead, reel them in, give them another five-point lead and dig out a win means there’s great credit due to the boys.” Ryan was confident before extra-time: “When it went to extra time I felt we’d win because we have a very high level of fitness. But it could have gone either way. It was a victory for honesty, for commitment, and for the heart that’s in these guys.”

* The AIB Munster club SHC final between De La Salle of Waterford and Thurles Sars of Tipperary has been fixed for Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Sunday November 28, throw in 2pm.

Scorers for De La Salle: B. Phelan 0-6 (0-4 fs, 0-2 65s); J. Mullane 0-5 (0-3 fs); P. Nevin 0-4; K. Moran 0-2; D.Twomey, E. Barrett, J. Dillon, E. Madigan, S. Daniels 0-1 each.

Scorers for Sars: C. McCarthy 1-6 (0-5 fs, 0-1 65); K. Murphy 1-1; D. Kearney, G. O’Loughlin 0-3 each; T. Og Murphy 0-2.

Subs for Sars: R. Murphy for Cussen, 55; M. Cussen for R. Murphy, HT(ET); P. Ryan for D. Kearney, 73; E. O’Sullivan for W. Kearney, 75

Subs for DLS: E. Madigan for Watt, 40; L. Hayes for Keane, 56; J. Keane for Greene, 78 (ET).

Referee: S. Roche (Tipperary)

Extra special Moran inspires DLS

By Colm Keys for the Irish Independent newspaper

Monday November 15 2010

De La Salle and Sarsfields have a propensity for serving up thrilling matches at this time of the year — and they didn’t disappoint at Pairc Ui Chaoimh yesterday. A full-blooded semi-final eventually went De La Salle’s way but only after extra-time had been forced by a magnificent equalising point from the Waterford champions’ centre-back Kevin Moran, who had the conviction to drive over from virtually his own 65-metre line to level the sides at 2-11 to 0-17. Referee Seamus Roche had allowed for two minutes of added-time and Moran’s effort was splitting the posts with a further 44 seconds played. He ended it there. But it was no more than De La Salle deserved for their persistence and the balance of possession they enjoyed, which they didn’t always capitalise on.

In that sense, Sarsfields captain and goalkeeper Alan Kennedy had come to the rescue on at least three occasions and John Mullane’s shooting, from frees and general play, was curiously off-key. That only two of De La Salle’s 22 points came from Mullane’s stick in general play illustrates the spread of influence they had. But by the end Moran had stood out on his own, earning rich kudos from his manager Michael Ryan, a candidate for the Waterford job just a couple of months ago. Ryan cannot understand how the powerhouse 23-year-old is not permanently sited at half-back on any team he plays. Waterford had him at midfield and half-forward this season. Yesterday’s tour de force, felt Ryan, illustrates that centre-back is his best position.

“No one will ever convince me that Kevin Moran’s best position is not in defence. He was majestic. He dominated the game from start to finish. When the pressure was on, he got that ball 70 or 80 metres out. “Everything hung on that one shot. That’s the shot of a lifetime. You either step up to the plate or you don’t,” said Ryan. “Kevin, the man he is, got that ball and planted it between the posts.” Others stepped up, too. When Mullane missed his third scorable free, Bryan Phelan took over responsibility and by the end there were six points to his name, all from mid or long-range frees or ’65s’.

He screwed a few wide too and one from a ’65’ caused controversy near the end of normal-time when Roche adjudged that Daniel Kearney had run across Phelan as he struck and ordered a free from 10 metres closer. This time, the powerful Phelan did not miss and reduced the gap to one point (2-11 to 0-16) to set up Moran’s grandstand finish. That decision enraged Sarsfields, and their manager John Crowley raised it in a post-match interview, deeming it “harsh”. In Sarsfields protestation, however, may have been a strong helping of regret that they had twice let five-point leads slip. Cian McCarthy’s goal on 16 minutes, courtesy of a Kieran Murphy flick into his path, handed the Cork champions the initiative and a 1-2 to 0-3 lead.

Murphy turned finisher towards the end of the half when he collected from Michael Cussen and slipped a shot past Stephen Brenner, before adding a point to establish the first five-point cushion, 2-5 to 0-6 at the break. For De La Salle, there was plenty of possession but very little cutting edge. It wasn’t a particularly rewarding half for Mullane, who watched in dismay as two relatively simple frees for a striker of the ball like him weren’t converted, one whizzing wide from about 30 metres, the other cannoning off an upright back into play. Towards the end of the half he went one-on-one, albeit from a tight angle, with Kennedy after a perfectly placed pass by Eddie Barrett but the Sarsfields goalkeeper — not for the first time — was equal to the task, batting Mullane’s shot away for a ’65’ which Phelan did convert.

De La Salle cut the deficit back to two points early in the second half with Mullane on target with two frees and Barrett chipping in, but by the 41st minute, Sarsfields had a five-point lead again and appeared to be cruising. For the final 20 minutes or so, it was all De La Salle, however. Mullane finally squeezed over a point from play on 51 minutes and substitute Eoin Madigan secured an important score. They had the bit between the teeth and the belief, too. “To give them a five-point start, then to come back and then let them go five points up again and still dig it out, it’s great credit to every one of the boys,” said Ryan. “It was one of these days, I don’t know why, that I felt we would get our chance — particularly when it went to extra-time.” When it did venture into added-time, De La Salle had the edge as Moran and Phelan grew stronger with every minute and the full-back line, spearheaded by Ian Flynn and the impressive Michael Doherty, dealt with almost everything thrown at them.

Midfielder Dean Twomey also made a big contribution with some telling runs and it was his point in the first period of extra-time that really gave De La Salle the impetus to go and win the game. Sarsfields had a chance at the end from a long-range McCarthy free, but it drifted narrowly wide, just as a similar chance had drifted wide near the end of normal-time which would have made the game safe. But Sarsfields manager Crowley refused to lay any blame at McCarthy’s door given his conversion rate (80pc according to Crowley) this season. The last word was left to Ryan, who credited the honesty and heart of his players. “Semi-finals are all about winning,” he said. “Waterford and De La Salle teams have often played in great games and come out on the wrong side of it. The only thing we were interested in today was the final score.”

Scorers — De La Salle: B Phelan 0-6 (0-4f, 0-2 ’65’), J Mullane 0-5 (0-3f), P Nevin 0-4, K Moran 0-2, S Daniels (0-1f), E Madigan, D Twomey, J Dillon, E Barrett 0-1 each. Sarsfields: C McCarthy 1-6 (0-5f, 0-1 ’65’), K Murphy 1-1, G O’Loughlin, D Kearney 0-3 each, T Og Murphy 0-2.

De La Salle — S Brenner; D Russell, I Flynn, M Doherty; B Phelan, K Moran, S Daniels; C Watt, D Twomey; P Nevin, D Greene, E Barrett; J Dillon, J Mullane, J Keane. Subs: E Madigan for Watt (42), L Hayes for Keane (56), J Keane for Greene (78)

Sarsfields — A Kennedy; D Keneally, J Barry, C O’Sullivan; G O’Kelly-Lynch, R Ryan, C Leahy; D Kearney, D Roche; C McCarthy, W Kearney, G O’Loughlin; M Cussen, K Murphy, T Og Murphy. Subs: R Murphy for Cussen (55), M Cussen for Murphy (70), P Ryan for Kearney (74), E O’Sullivan for Kearney (76).

REF — S Roche (Tipperary)

Action from De La Salle v Sarsfields